■^b7 
,/ 




O 



OpM \ 



H 



SHERMAN, 



General Andrew Hiclcenlooper's Address 



*TWENTY-THIRD MEETING +- 



Society of the Arrny of the Tennessee. 



CHICAGO, ILL. 



Octobei- 7th, 1891. 



CINCINNATI: 

Press of F. W. Freeman, 16 West Pearl Street. 

1893. 




SHERMAN. 



Beneral Andrew HicKenlooper's flflflress 



^TWENTY=THIRD MEETING 



Society of the Army of the Tennessee. 



CHICAGO, ILL. 



Ogtobek 7th, 1S91. 




DEPARTN 



Press of F. W. Freeman, 16 West Pearl Street. 
1893. 



.1 



This address is issued in this form by the Re- 
cording Secretary, under direction of the President; 
the order having been made at the request of many 
members of the Society. 



B: 



-•'' »■• 



45421 



ANNUAL ADDRESS 

BY 

General Andrew Hickenlooper. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen; Comrades of the 
Army of the Tennessee: 

When at your last stated meeting, you conferred upon me 
the distinguished honor and unmerited compliment of delivering 
your next annual address, little did any of us suppose that such an 
address would necessarily he an eulogy upon the life and military 
services of your distinguished President, then present with us in 
the full enjoyment of perfect health and mental vigor. 

Little did we realize that when next we met, it would be within 
e£ the shadow of a parting sorrow, to pay this last sad tribute of 

J3 respect, due from soldiers to a soldier's memory. 

qj WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN, 
^* GENERAL U. S. A. 

O BORN FEB. 8, 1820. 

(JD DIED FEB. 14, 1891. 

Such is the simple and modest inscription upon the casket con- 
taining the mortal remains of one of the most illustrious soldiers 
of the age, your old commander, and President of this Society, for 
a continous period of twenty-two years. 
•• When a soldier dieth, 

His comrades in the war, 
With arms reversed, and muffled drums, 

Follow the funeral-car. 
They show the banners taken, 

They tell of victories won, 
And after him lead his masterless steed, 
While peals the minute gun." 

But when a soldier dies who has occupied so conspicuous a 
place in his country's history, and especially one of whom so much 
has already been said and written, little remains to be voiced that 
will either add to a knowledge of his character or the public 
appreciation of his many manly virtues and soldierly achievements. 
Therefore upon such an occasion as this we can little more than 



Proceedings of the Society 

touch upon the salient points of a career that will ever lend luster 
to the great achievements of loyal arms. 

" Paint me as lam," said one of England's most distinguished 
soldiers; " Put in every scar and wrinkle, that both friends and 
foes may recognize the likeness.' 1 

So should it be with Sherman; his greatness was of too pro- 
nounced a type to be impaired by showing the few scars and 
wrinkles that only serve to make more distinctive the wonderful 
career of a man whose contradictory nature must have impressed 
all alike by its hesitating indifference and its unselfish loyalty; its 
chilling austerity and its childlike simplicity; its uncompromising 
implacability and its manly generosity: peculiarities so happily 
blended, by rapidly succeeding events and time's disclosures, that 
we can now, more clearly than ever before, realize that each was 
an essential element in the formation of a character developed to 
meet peculiar and exceptional conditions. 

William Tecumseh Sherman, the sixth son of a family of eleven 
children, was born at Lancaster, O., on the 8th day of February, 
1820, and when but nine years of age was, by the sudden death of 
his father and the financially embarrassed condition of the family, 
forced to become a dependent upon the generously bestowed boun- 
ty of comparative strangers Fortunately for his future welfare he 
became an inmate of the family — and practically the adopted son — 
of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, then one of the most distinguished men 
of Ohio. Mr. Ewing soon thereafter became United States Sena- 
tor, and "Cump" Sherman, in the spring of 1836, entered West 
Point military academy, from which institution he graduated four 
years later, sixth in a class of forty-three. After thirteen years of 
uneventful military service, and seven years of varied and profitless 
civil employment, we find General Sherman early in I860 occupy- 
ing the position of superintendent of the Louisiana Seminary of 
Learning and Military Academy. 

Another year and the dark shadows of the impending conflict 
were swiftly spreading. South Carolina had, the 20th of Decem- 
ber, passed its order of secession; arms and munitions of war 
were, by traitorous officials, being rapidly transferred from north- 
ern to southern arsenals; United States officers of southern 
birth were resigning to accept service with their respective states; 
Fort Moultrie had been abandoned; the Star of the West had been 
fired upon; Federal forts had been seized and loyal troops cap- 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

tured and paroled; open and armed rebellion was being preached 
by the heads of at least three of the executive departments at 
Washington; and the whole South was being rapidly transformed 
into an immense military camp of instruction; and yet Sherman 
quietly continued in the discharge of his assigned duties. What 
doubts, hopes, and fears were coursing through his brain during 
this critical period none can tell; but when the crucial test of his 
lovalty to their cause was applied, through an order from General 
Bragg, to receipt for, and take charge of, the arms and munitions 
of war, captured with the United States arsenal at Baton Rouge, 
all doubts of his position were dispelled by the prompt transmittal 
of a letter, under date of January 18th, 1861, to the Governor of 
Louisiana, in which he said: "As I occupy a quasi-military position 
under this state, I think it proper to acquaint you that I accepted 
such a position when Louisiana was a state in the Union. Recent 
events foreshadow a great change, and it becomes all men to 
choose one way or the other. I beg you to take immediate steps 
to relieve me the moment the state determines to secede, for on 
no earthly account will I do any act or think any thought hostile 
to, or in defiance of, the old government of the United States." 

Six weeks later, leaving the service of Louisiana, with its con- 
genial and remunerative employment, he embarked for his old 
home and an unknown future. 

Now forty-one years of age, with a dependent family to support, 
naturally his mind turned to professional employment in the military 
service of his country, and with this object in view he visited 
Washington city. But doubting, as he did, his own ability to 
acceptably fill other than a subordinate position, he made no claim 
to special preferment, or even to the command of troops, but ex- 
pressed a perfect willingness to accept any position for which he 
might be found qualified by education or experience. 

Though backed by the strong political influence of his brother, 
then, as now, United States Senator, and commanding all the social 
influence due to his marriage with the daughter of so distinguished 
a man as the Hon. Thomas Ewing, he was unable to obtain more 
than a respectful consideration of his application, ending only in 
its rejection, President Lincoln himself saying: "We shall not need 
many men like you. This affair will soon blow over." 

Asserting that he would take no further part in the controversy 
he returned to St. Louis, and through the influence of some old army 



Proceedings of the Society 

friends secured the presidency of a street-railroad company in 
that city. 

That he was, at this time, perfectly sincere in his expressed 
determination to have nothing more to do with the difficulties and 
dangers which imperiled the very life of the republic, there can 
be no question. For, in addition to such positive declarations, he 
stood unmoved by that perfect tempest of popular loyalty which 
swept aside all the social and political barriers throughout the 
north. Even as late as April 8th, 1861, he replied with an air of 
indifference to the offer of a responsible military position; and to 
General Blair's tender of an important command, he simply replied 
that he had long deliberated upon his course of action, and having 
once tendered his services, and met with refusal, he had made 
other arrangements which would preclude the acceptance of his 
offer, however tempting and complimentary. 

But finding, as he himself says, that his best friends were begin- 
ning to doubt his loyalty, he renewed his application to the Secre- 
tarv of War, saying: 

"I hold myself now, as always, prepared to serve my country 
in the capacity for which I was trained. I will not volunteer as 
a soldier, because rightfully or wrongfully I feel unwilling to take 
a mere private's place, and having for many years lived in Cali- 
fornia and Louisiana, the men are not well enough acquainted with 
me to elect me to my appropriate place. 

"Should my services be needed, the records of the War Depart- 
ment will enable you to designate the station in which I can ren- 
der most service." 

While this vei'y modest and courteous application elicited no 
immediate response, on the 14th of May he had the satisfaction of 
being notified that he had been commissioned Colonel of the 
13th United States Infantry, one of the new regiments authorized 
by Congress, but not yet enlisted. 

This was the second important turning point in the career of a 
comparatively unknown man, destined within the brief period of 
three years to become one of the most distinguished soldiers of 
the age. 

Biographers of historical character, forgetting that three-fourths 
of greatness is the greatness of opportunity, seek for and gener- 
ally manage to find, or assume to find, in the lives of eminent men, 
some distinguishing feature that indicates a germ of greatness, 



Of the Armv of the Tennessee. 

which, under the influence of favorable conditions, develops and 
expands until the world bows in humble acknowledgement of 
inherited genius. 

But for such evidence in the early lives of the most distin- 
guished characters of our civil war, the historian will look in vain. 

Of the three great central figures, one — the immortal Lincoln — 
neither in youth or early manhood, gave promise of his future. 

He totally failed when placed in command of a single company 
of Illinois volunteers, and gave up the attempt in disgust. He 
was unsuccessful as a miller; proved himself incompetent to 
manage a country store; and within one year after entering upon 
the simple duty of county surveyor had his instruments, horse, and 
saddle attached for debt. 

But when the hour of trial came that was to test his mighty 
genius under other and different conditions — the chief command 
of a million men under arms, and the civil government of the 
greatest republic on earth — he gave so enduring an example of 
true greatness, not to this nation alone, but to the world, that I 
may well say of him, as Lord Brougham said of Washington: '"The 
test of the progress of mankind will be their appreciation of his 
character." 

The second — General Grant — was not in boyhood possessed of 
the will power that afterward proved to be the dominating feature 
of his character. At West Point he displayed no wonderful 
adaptability for the profession of arms, and at the first favorable 
opportunity he retired from the military service, for which he had 
never evinced any natural or inherited taste during the dull and 
piping times of peace, The war came, and fame crowned the 
hero that fortune found to match the opportunity. 

The third — General Sherman — the last survivor of that wonder- 
ful triumvirate that closed in victory the most stupendous struggle 
for civil rights and human liberty the world has ever known, proved 
no exception. He was a bright active boy, full of animal spirits, 
enjoying the freedom of a surveyor's rodman much more than the 
life of a student; but at no time giving, by word or deed, the slight- 
est indication of possessing that talent for command which after- 
ward placed him in the front rank of the most distinguished mil- 
itary chieftains of the world. At West Point thei"e appears to 
have been no special development that would indicate peculiar 
fitness for the military profession, or unerringly point to a brilliant 



Proceedings of the Society 

future. He was considered neither a good soldier nor model 
cadet; and in consequence never received any special recognition 
in the way of promotion, but remained a private from the begin- 
ning to the close of his academic term. 

Neither was there during the entire period of his service in the 
old army, a single distinguishing feature; and notwithstanding his 
term of service covered the entire period of the Mexican war, 
he surrendered his commission without ever having seen to ex- 
ceed a battalion under arms, and without ever having heard a 
hostile gun fired. 

Still less did his subsequent resignation of his commission as 
commander-in-chief of the California militia, upon the eve of their 
being called into service by the Governor of that State for the 
enforcement of the laws, indicate any special desire to win laurels 
on the field of action, or subordinate his own judgment to soldierly 
obligations not in harmony with his own views of right and 
wrong. 

But the transformation came with the government's acceptance 
of his services. As if by magic his whole nature appeared to 
change when from listless indifference and ambitionless repose he 
entered upon the discharge of his newly-assigned duties with an 
energy and zeal that fairly outstripped reason. 

The historian Headly says there are three classes of men which 
a state of war brings to the surface to astonish the world by their 
developed character. 

" One composed of the few men left of the chivalric age, who 
live more by the imagination in the days of knighthood than 
amidst the practical scenes that surround them. 

"Another, is a class of reckless, daring spirits, who love the 
excitement of danger, and the still greater excitement of gaining 
or losing everything in a single throw. 

"The other class, is composed of those stern and powerful men 
whose whole inherent force must out in action or slumber on for- 
ever. In peaceful times they acquire no eminence, for there is 
nothing upon which they can expend the prodigious active energy 
they possess; but in time of agitation, when a throne can be won 
by a stroug arm and daring spirit, they arouse themselves and 
move around the tumult completely at home." 

In the searching light of our past experience we may recognize 
many types of the first and second class; but of all the distinguished 



Of the Army of the Temiessee. 

characters developed by our civil war, Sherman stands alone as 
the pre-eminent representative of that class whose birth-right to 
fame dates from the first shock of battle. 

No pride of inherited genius could have added a single gem to 
his subsequently acquired crown of glory; nor was it needed to 
complete the full measure of a fame which rested upon the more 
enduring foundation of accomplished deeds. 

He was loyal to the Union through no influences of early asso- 
ciation or companionship, for during the entire period of his 
service in the old army it was dominated by soldiers of southern 
birth; and subsequently his warmest friendships were among the 
leading military men of that section; and yet all the bonds of per- 
sonal friendship, all the blandishments of social influences, all the 
proffers of place, honors, and power, were insufficient to win him 
from his allegiance to the Union. 

His patriotism was not of that intense and unreasoning char- 
acter which subordinated every earthly consideration to the single 
purpose of " Hanging Jeff. Davis to a sour apple tree." It was 
based upon the stronger, and more enduring, foundation of a 
deep-seated conviction that it was only through national unity 
the republic could be preserved. 

He entered upon the contest, not from motives of personal am- 
bition, or love of his profession, but rather from loyal regard for the 
civil institutions of his country, and a desire that thev might be 
pepetuated in the interests of the highest destiny of the human 
race. 

He said to the Mayor of Atlanta, " I had no hand in the making 
of this war, and I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of 
you to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a divided 
country. We do not want your negroes, houses, lands, or any- 
thing that you have; but we do want, and will have, a just obedi- 
ence to the laws of the United States. We must not only have 
peace in Atlanta, but in all America. " 

And believing, as he did, that such a result could be obtained 
only through the speedy success of loyal arms, he made war with 
that single purpose in view; boldly, fiercely, and aggressively, it is 
true, but always with the sword in one hand, and the olive branch 
in the other. 

And thus he became the architect of his own greatness, bor- 



Proceedings of the Society 

rowing nothing from ancestry or association, but doing much to 
brighten well earned laurels resting upon other brows. 

His first experience in handling troops under fire was at the 
battle of Bull Run, where he displayed the coolness, courage, and 
military ability of a veteran soldier. Promoted to Brigadier- 
General of volunteers, he was next assigned to the command of 
the forces being organized at Louisville for the defense of Ken- 
tucky. Familiar as he was with the objects and purposes of the 
secession movement; knowing, as he did, the earnestness and 
determination of the South; and appreciating, as no one else then 
appeared capable of doing, the dangers and difficulties to be met 
and mastered, he was not slow in denouncing the inadequacy of 
the government's preparations; and, incredible as it may now 
appear, alarmed the authorities by asserting that it would requii*e 
60,000 men for the Kentucky campaign and 200,000 to insure the 
safety of the west. So intense and zealous was he in the dis- 
charge of his duties, that it won for him the character of an alarm- 
ist, and came near precipitating a panic, of which the story of his 
insanity was an evolution. 

And loyal papers, forgetting that "extraordinary genius is the 
neighbor of extraordinary madness," joined in a hue and cry that 
soon became public property through an editorial in the Cincinnati 
Commercial, which said: 

"The following intelligence reaches us in such a form that we 
are not at liberty to discredit it, that General Wm. T. Sherman, 
commanding the Department of the Cumberland, is insane. The 
harsh criticisms which have been lavished upon this gentleman, 
provoked by his strange conduct, will now give way to feelings of 
the deepest sympathy for him in his great calamity. It seems, 
however, providential that the country has not to mourn the loss 
of an army through the loss of the mind of a General into whose 
hands were committed the vast responsibilities of the command in 
Kentucky." 

An infamous slander that undoubtedly led to his being relieved 
from command and assignment to less important duties in Missouri. 
Subsequently ordered to Paducah, his boundless energy there 
found ample employment in the hasty organization, equipment, 
and forwarding of masses of brave, patriotic, but uninstructed men 
to a participation in the Tennessee campaign, in which he soon 
became an important factor as the commander of a division. 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

The lurid light of war's illumination flashed across the fields of 
Shiloh. As the first dim and uncertain rays of that fateful April 
morning's sun struggled through the bright spring foliage, the 
"long roll's" ominous sounds for the first time fell upon ears unused 
to an interpretation of its fearful import, and "Sherman's division," 
composed of men who had never before faced an enemy in battle, 
promptly responded to the call, and from daylight until dark par- 
ticipated in that horrible harvest of death. Severely wounded and 
twice unhorsed, Sherman stuck to his work with an energy born 
of desperation. By the sheer force of his wonderful and magnetic 
personality he induced his raw troops to dispute every foot they 
yielded, as though it was their last and only hope, and to fight upon 
the threshold of the next, as though it was but the commencement 
of the struggle; closing the day's desperate fighting at a point not 
to exceed one mile distant from its place of commencement. 

No better deserved or higher compliment could be paid a soldier 
than that accorded by Generals Grant and Halleck when they said: 

"To his individual efforts we are indebted for the success of the 
battle. He saved the fortunes of the day on the 6th, and con- 
tributed largely to the glorious victory on the 7th." 

Napoleon proudly said to the Emperor of Austria, "My patent 
of nobility dates from the battle of Montonette;" and Sherman 
might well have said, his dated from the battle of Shiloh. 

And from this event, too, may be dated that undying and self- 
sacrificing friendship between the two greatest military chieftains 
of the civil war. Men whose whole lives appeared to run 
together; for but two brief years will blanket the dates of their 
births, entrance into the academy, their successive promotions to 
the rank of Captain, their term of service in the old army, their 
resignations, their marriages, and all their subsequent promotions, 
from the rank of Colonel to that of Lieutenant-General. 

Both were practical failures in the business affairs of life; and 
the services of both were declined when first tendered to the gov- 
ernment; both were falsely and unjustly charged with weaknesses 
impairing their military standing; and unsuccessful battles — Bel- 
mont and Bull Run —marked their first experiences; and conclu- 
sive victories — Bentonville and Appomattox — crowned their 
closing efforts. 

Sherman's subsequently associated part with General Grant was 
that of a subordinate working upon independent lines of thought 



Proceedings of the Society 

and action, swinging loose from personal contact and visible 
events, to return only when some specially assigned task had been 
accomplished. 

In pursuance of this theory of operation, with an army corps 
especially organized for the purpose, late in December he de- 
scended the Mississippi river to attempt the capture of Vicksburg; 
while Grant was to hold the main forces of the enemy about 
Grenada. Unfortunately Sherman was not advised of the disas- 
ter at Holly Springs, necessitating Grant's withdrawal from the 
enemy's front, and insuring his own repulse by a superior force. 

Hurled back from the impregnable fortifications of the Yazoo 
Bluffs, he lost no time in vain repining, but snatched victory from 
defeat by at once planning and executing in a masterly manner a 
campaign resulting in the capture of Arkansas Post with its 
heavy armament and 5,000 prisoners. Returning to the Missis- 
sippi river his corps was attached to the recently arrived forces 
of General Grant and together they made numerous attempts to find 
some practical pathway by which to place the Army of the Ten- 
nessee upon the highlands in the rear of Vicksburg. Canals were 
dug and abandoned, bayous were explored and rejected, and all 
resources appeared exhausted in vain endeavor to reach a proper 
operating base. Gloomy indeed were the prospects, and loud 
and fierce were the complaints published in northern papers, 
characterizing the whole campaign as a disastrous failm-e. 

But soon a rift in the clouds appeared, when the genius of Grant 
pointed out the way; an essential feature of which was that Sher- 
man should make a demonstration against Haines Bluff to cover the 
real movement below; a thankless and hopeless task, which all 
knew would be heralded throughout the north as another defeat, 
due to incompetent leadership. 

There are two kinds of courage, one, the courage to meet an 
enemy in battle, the other, courage to brave public criticism, 
equally important and meritorious; but while the first leads to 
glory and renown, the other, too frequently, leads to unmerited 
dishonor and disgrace. No one understood this better than Sher- 
man, and yet he promptly replied to Grant's hesitatingly sug- 
gested desires, " I believe a diversion at Haines Bluff is essential 
to your success, and I will make it regardless of consequences and 
damaging reports," 

Promptly, cheerfully, and successfully, he executed the task 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

assigned him; and then hastily joined the main body, which had 
secured a footing upon the highlands about Port Gibson; and with 
it participated in all the active operations of that memorable cam- 
paign which resulted — on the 4th of July, 1863 — in the surrender 
of Vicksburg, and the capture of more men and materials of war 
than up to that time had ever been captured upon any one single 
occasion. 

But no sooner was this accomplished than he was again en- 
trusted with a separate command, and the duty of driving Joe. 
Johnston's succoring army out of the state, "a fitting supplement 
to the conquest of the Mississippi, and, indeed, necessary to per- 
fect the achievements of General Grant." 

Soon thereafter, succeeding General Grant in the command of 
the Army of the Tennessee, he undertook the rapid transfer of a 
considerable portion of his troops from the Mississippi river to 
the relief of the beleaguered garrison of Chattanooga. Day and 
night he urged his weary and footsore men through the mud, over 
rockv roads, treacherous quicksands, and across swollen rivers for 
over four hundred miles, and then without a moment's rest and 
without sleep for three successive nights, he crossed the Tennessee 
and took the initiative in that battle which saved the Army of the 
Cumberland and sent Bragg reeling back from the front of troops 
which he believed were being starved into submission and sur- 
render. 

Then again cutting loose with his war-worn and battle-scarred 
heroes, many of them ragged and barefooted, without blankets or 
overcoats, during the most inclement season of the year, he made 
that memorable one hundred and thirty miles march to the relief of 
Knoxville. 

So meritorious were these accomplishments that Congress, by 
joint resolution, expressed to him the thanks of his gratified country. 

Resting not a moment he personally returned to the Mississippi 
river, and, with the troops of that department, entered upon that 
brilliantly conceived and masterly executed campaign known as 
the " Meridian raid," in which he first demonstrated the prac- 
ticability of moving an army from its base of supplies and practi- 
cally subsisting it upon the enemy's country. 

Following this came General Grant's promotion to the grade oi 
Lieutenant-General, and Sherman's assignment to the command 
of the military division of the Mississippi; upon which occasion 



Proceedings of the Society 

General Grant wrote him that he attributed whatever he had had 
of success to the energy and skill of his subordinates, especially 
McPherson and himself. To which sincere and manly expression 
of regard and appreciation, General Sherman promptly and feel- 
ingly replied, and added in a strain that now appears prophetic in 
its forecast of the future: 

. "and from the West, when our task is done, we will 
make short work of Charleston, and Richmond, and the impover- 
ished coast of the Atlantic." 

One of our greatest military critics has said "many a man will 
prove himself a hero when told what to do and how to do it, yet 
show great indecision when himself left to decide his own course." 
But this was no longer to be Sherman's relations to his superior, 
for the latter said in parting, " I do not propose to lay down for 
you a plan of campaign, but simply to lay down the work it is 
desirable to have done, and leave you free to execute it in your 
own way." To which Sherman modestly replied, " I will not let 
any side issues draw me off from main points, in which T am to 
knock Joe. Johnston, and do as much damage as I can to the 
resources of the enemy." 

Under these conditions was inaugurated a campaign that will 
ever be memorable in the annals of war, as one of the most dog- 
gedly persistent and brilliant examples of great generalship ever 
exhibited in any age. 

Never before in the world's history had such a body of men 
been brought together for a nobler purpose; never before an army 
so well fitted by general intelligence for the accomplishment of 
such a task; never before an army commanded by a man more 
thoroughly possessing the confidence and respect of the one hun- 
dred thousand veteran soldiers, who, on the morning of May 
5th, 1864, stood ready for the signal to advance. 

By skillful strategy, consummate generalship, and a display of 
that indomitable energy for which he was justly renowned, he 
forced the fight; in season and out of season, by day and by night, 
it was the ceaseless booming of cannon and rattle of musketry that 
furnished the inspiriting music for his marching men. Daunted 
by no obstacles, exhausted by no toil, entrapped by no stratagem, 
he moved resistlessly forward. No sooner was he brought to bay 
by unsurmountable obstacles than his pioneers were blazing the 
way to a new point of attack. Step by step he drove the enemy 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

before him. Never shunning a battle, but sparing the lives of his 
men by avoiding useless attacks upon impregnable fortifications, 
he gained battles, not by desperate fighting alone, but by skillful 
maneuvering and hard marching. 

Like the Alpine glazier that ever creeps onward in its resistless 
course; slowly sweeping through gorges, climbing over precipices, 
pushing aside barriers, and moving along valleys to the sea; so 
moved " Sherman's army" in its resistless course to the same 
destination. 

In quick succession followed the battles of Resaca, Cassville, 
Dallas, New Hope, Peach Tree, Atlanta, and Jonesboro, culmi- 
nating in the electrifying message from your honored chief: " At- 
lanta is ours and fairly won." 

It was, indeed, a glorious ending to a most brilliant campaign, 
but one darkly stained with loyal blood, for over thirty thousand of 
America's bravest and best had been borne to the hospital or follow- 
ed to the grave; and McPherson— the only commander of a Union 
army killed during the war — individualized in his country's history 
and up to the time of his death amongst the foremost of its illus- 
trious defenders— fell upon the threshold of his culminating vic- 
tory. Well might Sherman have said, as did Napoleon at Maren- 
go, when informed of the death of his favorite marshal: "Victory 
at such a price is dear." 

Of commanding stature, martial bearing, and the very embodi- 
ment of manly grace and beauty, McPherson fell, " booted and 
spurred as a gallant knight and gentleman should wish." History 
tells us, said Sherman, of but few who blended the grace and 
o-entleness of a friend with dignity, courage, faith, and manliness 
of the soldier; those whom he commanded loved him even to 
idolatry. 

Brilliant and fruitful as was the campaign to Atlanta, it was but 
one step toward the consummation of his plans. 

As though standing upon an eminence, from which he could 
look away over and beyond the mists of the valley that obscured 
the vision of those who were occupying the ordinary level, his 
eves swept over the rocky fastnesses of northern Georgia; the 
broad savannahs of its ocean- washed shores; and up along the 
coast, even to where his honored chief had for many weary months 
been struggling with the still unsolved problem of Lee's defeat 
and the capture of Richmond. 



Proceedings of the Society 

With his comprehensive mind, he grasped the possibilities of 
the future so clearly that he became anxious to seize the oppor- 
tunity afforded by Hood's northward march, to strike the con- 
cluding blows that he felt assured would bring peace and pros- 
perity to his country. 

Detaching to General Thomas a sufficient force to care for Hood, 
and sending to the rear all the sick, weak, and inefficient, with 
extra baggage, tents, and surplus munitions of war, there emerged 
from this apparent confusion of preparation a contact, confident 
army of sixty thousand veteran soldiers, "well armed, well equipped, 
and provided, so far as human foresight could, with all the essentials 
of life, strength, and vigorous action.''' 

Like Cortez destroying his ships that thoughts of return might 
not enter the minds of his men, the iron chords that bound Sher- 
man's army to northern civilization were torn asunder, and with 
his parting message, "All is well," on the 15th of November, he 
began that famous march to the sea which punctured the bubble 
of secession and sent the music of a famous song echoing down 
the corridors of time. 

With but three days' forage, twenty days' short rations, and two 
hundred rounds of ammunition; in four columns of sixteen thous- 
and men each, and five thousand cavalry on the exposed flank; 
presenting a head of column thirty miles in width — "a cloud by 
day and a pillar of fire by night" — feigning upon fortified positions 
first to the right and then to the left; brushing aside all opposing 
forces, and sweeping like a tornado over their hastily improvised 
field-works and fortifications, that "lost army" pressed steadilv 
forward on a projected march, the ultimate destination of which 
was known only to its commander, until the morning of December 
21st, thirty-five days after leaving Atlanta. 

" Proud, proud was the army that morning 
That stood by the cypress an^l pine. 
When Sherman said, 'Boys, you are weary; 
This day fair Savannah is thine.'" 

Happy in its conception, wonderful in its execution, glorious in 
its results, but above all, fortunate in its leadership, Sherman's 
march to the sea will ever be regarded as one of the grandest 
accomplishments of modern warfare. 

Emerson says, " Originality of thought is the acme of genius, 
and the highest merit we can ascribe to the grandest men is that 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

they set at naught books and traditions, following not what other 
men have said, but what they themselves have thought.' 1 

Measured by such a standard, Sherman would certainly rank 
with the greatest military chieftains of any age, for he was nothing 
if not original. 

Caring little for the pageantry of war, his campaign life was a 
model for his subordinates. No useless tents incumbered his 
trains; mess chests were relegated to the rear; "councils of war"' 
were to him unknown; "chiefs of staff" found no place in his 
military family; and "Adjutant-Generals" were to him simply 
clerks and scribes. In a field campaign his official papers were 
generally carried in a side pocket, and finally filed away in an 
empty candle-box. 

While a profound student of military history and the science of 
war. he was an imitator in nothing; but when the occasion de- 
manded, drew from and added to his wealth of military knowledge 
the principles and suggestions necessary to meet existing emergen- 
cies. Constantly improving upon the old, and making new rules 
of warfare, he found no necessity for imitating even the greatest 
of military heroes. His comprehensive grasp of every situation, 
and supreme confidence in his own abilities, left no room for any- 
thing more than the most daring application of fundamental prin- 
ciples to new and novel conditions. 

As original and independent in action as in thought, he seldom 
took counsel of others; clear, precise, and exact in his orders, and 
saying to his subordinates, ask me for anything but time, he 
anticipated only the utmost harmony of action and certainty of 
results. And yet changed conditions always found him prepared 
with fertile expedients that never occurred to others, enabling him 
to seize the opportunity for making the most momentous combi- 
nations and unexpected movements, as though they were but 
parts of the original plan and the quiet, every day work of an ordi- 
nary soldier. 

Immediately after the capture of Fort McAllister and previous 
to the fall of Savannah General Grant directed Sherman to leave 
all his cavalry and artillery in a fortified camp near that city and 
transport his men by sea to City Point with all possible dispatch. 
But to this plan Sherman signified his disapproval by portraying 
the greater advantages of again launching out into the interior, 
and joining him by a march through the very heart of the Con- 



Proceedings of the Society 

federacy. General Grant's military mind at once comprehended 
the importance of the proposed movement; he doubted only its 
practicability, and wrote Sherman for a more detailed expression 
of his views. 

In reply to which Sherman said: " I am pleased that you 
have modified your former orders. I feel no doubt whatever as 
to our future plans. I have thought them over so long and well 
that they appear to me as clear as day. I think our campaign of 
the past month, as well as every step I take from this point north- 
ward, is as much a direct attack upon Lee's army as though we 
were operating within the sound of his artillery. This march is 
necessary to close the war; it must be made sooner or later, and I 
am now in a proper position to make it. I ask no reinforce- 
ments, for, while I do not like to boast, I believe this army has a 
confidence in itself that makes it almost invincible. I expect that 
Jeff. Davis will, however, move heaven and earth to catch me, for 
success to this column is fatal to his dream of empire." 

On the 27th of December General Grant communicated his ap- 
proval of Sherman's plans, saying: "Join the armies operating 
against Richmond as soon as you can. I will leave all suggestions 
about the route you should take, knowing that your information 
gained daily in the course of events will be better than any that 
can be obtained now." 

Having previously concentrated his army about Hardeeville and 
Pocatalago, on the 1st of February, Sherman gave the signal to 
advance; and thus inaugurated a campaign which, in results to be 
accomplished, difficulties to be overcome, and natural obstacles to 
be surmounted, was to be the supreme test of his generalship, and 
the crowning glory of all his military achievements. 

Involving, as it did, the movement in the depth of winter of 
immense artillery, baggage, and subsistence trains, over a section 
of country traversed by few roads, many deep rivers, innumerable 
streams, and overflowed swamps, it is no wonder General Grant 
said: "I had originally no idea of having Sherman march from 
Savannah to Richmond, or even to North Carolina. The season 
was bad and the roads impracticable for anything, except such an 
army as he had. I should not have thought of ordering such a 
move." 

In addition to the natural obstacles to be overcome he was now 
to operate in a country comparatively destitute of subsistence and 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

defended by the second most important veteran army of the Con- 
federacy, under the leadership of his old antagonist, General John- 
ston, who had so successfully contested every step from Chatta- 
nooga to Atlanta. 

Though confident of success, he was by no means indifferent to 
the hazards of such an undertaking, and therefore made every 
provision for the safety of his army that human sagacity could 
suggest. Recalling the fate of Cornwallis — who, upon this very 
ground, was victorious in battle but defeated by famine — he ad- 
vised supporting movements and establishments of depots of sup- 
plies at various points along the coast, to which he might be 
forced to resort, and even calculating the length of time he might 
be able to subsist his army upon parched corn and mule-meat, 
saying to General Grant: ''You may rest assured I will keep my 
troops well in hand and impress them, if possible, with the feeling 
that beef and salt are all that is absolutely necessary to sustain 
life; and if I am worsted, will aim to make the enemy pay so 
dearly that you will have less to do." 

Corduroying roads, wading swamps, building bridges, pontoon- 
ing rivers, destroying railroads, and fighting the enemy night and 
day; through rain, mud, and mire, his resistless columns moved 
steadily forward, cheerfully enduring every privation in the full 
confidence that they were striking such effective blows at the heart 
of treason that they must inevitably bring the end for which 
all were devoutly praying. Threatening Charleston on the right 
and Augusta on the left, he skillfully divided the forces of the 
enemy and moved rapidly north directly upon Columbia, the capi- 
tal of the secession-cursed state, which the whole army believed 
to be mainly responsible for the war. 

While the enemy severely criticised General Sherman's methods, 
it is perfectly natural that the conquered and the conquerer should 
entertain different views in regard to military necessities. To suc- 
cessfully wage war it is not only necessary to defeat armies but to 
waste and destroy their subsistence; mistaken sentimentality in 
this regard at the beginning only prolonged the struggle. No 
army of equal numbers ever marched through an enemy's country 
that interfered less with personal rights. The unavoidable suffer- 
ing which ensued through the appropriation of subsistence was 
only that which naturally and inevitably followed in the wake of 
an invading army. To the credit of Union soldiers and honor to 



Proceedings of the Society 

their loyal mothers, not one single recorded act of hostility toward 
unarmed men or insult to unprotected women has left a blot upon 
the fair fame of American manhood. In the light of such a record 
it appears unnecessary to discuss the question whether Columbia 
was burned by Union or Confederate soldiers. It simply fell a 
sacrifice to the fortunes of the war, from which no southern city — 
save possibly Charleston — had less reason for pleading exemption. 

Making ample — aye, liberal — provision for the protection and 
subsistence of the citizens of that unfortunate city, his columns 
were swiftly moved forward to Cheraw, across the Pedee, up to 
Fayetteville and over the Cape Fear river, to fight and win the 
battles of Averyboro and Bentonville; and finally form a junction 
with the forces of Schofield and Terry at Goldsboro, the objective 
point of a campaign to which military critics will hereafter refer 
as a standard by which to estimate the extreme maximum endur- 
ance and marching abilities of a well organized, thoroughly dis- 
ciplined, and magnificently commanded, veteran corps, that safely 
accomplished the longest and most difficult march ever before 
made by an army through an enemy's country. 

Pausing only long enough to refill his ammunition and subsist- 
ence trains he directed his heads of column upon Smithfield, 
where Johnston had taken up a defensive position, only to find 
that he had fallen back upon Raleigh. Changing his route toward 
Salisbury in order to intercept Johnston's retreat southward Sher 
man forced from his antagonist a plea for the suspension of hos- 
tilities, with a view to determining whether arrangements could 
not be made for terminating the war — negotiations which finally 
resulted in the surrender of Johnston's army. And thus at Dur- 
ham's station the curtain fell upon the last important act of that 
terrible drama of civil war which opened with the crime of treason 
and closed with the curse of assassination. 

Peace came with this glorious ending of his last campaign, a 
fitting conclusion to that brilliant series which impressed many 
with the belief that Sherman was the brightest military genius of 
an epoch fruitful in the production of heroes. 

While General Sherman may have developed peculiarities of 
genius that were observed severally in other men, in none, how- 
ever, were such peculiarities ever before found in such happy 
combinations. He certainly excelled all in his ability to rapidly 
organize, equip, supply, and move an army in the field. His track- 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

layers kept pace with the music of his marching columns, and 
the shrieks of his locomotives— evidencing the integrity of his 
" cracker-line"'— were the ever welcome greetings to his skirm- 
ishers. Resistless courage, unshaken steadiness, limitless endur- 
ance, and unbounded confidence were the distinguishing features 
of a command that bore the impress of his brilliant personality. 

Firm, but not exacting; prudent, but not timid; brave, but not 
rash; he never became disconcerted in presence of danger or sen- 
timental in the presence of death; but when the business was 
over and he relieved from the stern necessity of the hour, no one 
ever displayed more respect for the memory of the dead or con- 
siderate care for the wounded. 

While at all times subordinate, he never hesitated to proffer his 
advice or express his disapproval of measures not calculated to 
benefit the cause, even going to the extent of criticising the action 
of the authorities at Washington in matters of promotion, upon 
one noted occasion saying, " If the rear be the post of honor, then 
we had better all change front on Washington," and upon an- 
other occasion when short of transportation, for which he had 
made frequent requisition, he was astonished by the arrival of 
two newly appointed Brigadier-Generals, who had been ordered 
to report to him for assignment to duty. He promptly telegraphed 
" I made no requisition for Brigadier-Generals; I want 'mules.'" 

He appeared to have little respect for rank attained through 
political favoritism, or other influence than creditable conduct on 
the Held of battle. Words were to him nothing, actions every- 
thing; and the confidence he reposed in the invincibility of his 
army was fully reciprocated by its confidence in the infallibility 
of their leader. Together they shared the honors of his successive 
promotions, and the assumption of those more responsible duties 
which he accepted so modestly and performed so ably. 

It was his raid to Meridian, his campaign to Atlanta, his march 
to the sea, and his terrible crusade with sword and torch through 
the Carolinas that first brought the south to a realizing sense of 
the destructive character of aggressive warfare. When to Gen- 
eral Hood he said: " War is the science of barbarism " he sounded 
the keynote to his military methods, which history may yet record 
as the science of war's humanities; for there are none who do not 
now realize that they sooner brought the end, and in thus bring- 
ing the end conferred the greatest possible blessing upon all con- 



Proceedings of the Society 

cerned. A brighter day never dawned upon either the north or 
south than that upon which Sherman tendered the city of Savan- 
nah as a Christmas gift to the Union. The privations of war, 
the experiences of defeat, the teachings of adversity, and the 
examples of northern energy, enterprise, and industry were the 
educating influences that inspired that emulation, stimulated that 
application, and encouraged that labor, which has been instru- 
mental in developing the mineral wealth and industrial commer- 
cial agencies of the south, until the progress of some sections now 
rival that of the north, a progress that can no longer be stayed by 
the remaining adherents of a barren ideality — the "lost cause," 
Even those who suffered most are now rejoicing in the birth of a 
"new south, 1 ' which gladly shares the universal prosperity of a 
country saved by Sherman's military genius from disunion, slav- 
ery, and national death. 

With the dawn of peace came his assignment to the command 
of the military division of Missouri and subsequent promotion to 
" General of the Army." It is doubtful if any man ever before 
more thoroughly enjoyed the remaining years of a life devoted to 
the performance of most agreeable official duties. And thus time 
passed away until having reached the law's limitation to term of 
service, the 8th day of February, 1884, he surrendered the com- 
mand of the army and retired to private life, carrying with him 
not only the respect, but the love and affection of a nation. 

Having no longer an opportunity of applying his restless energy 
to the accomplishment of military purposes, and being totally de- 
void of political ambition, he at once devoted himself to the pleas- 
ures and excitements of the social world. Tall, erect, and wiry, 
with silvered auburn hair, close-cut beard, and dark inquiring 
eyes, he was in personal appearance the typical soldier, whose 
every feature and lineament marked the imperious will and chill- 
ing - reserve of a born commander, until changed by the charms of 
social intercourse, when his face would be lighted up by smiles 
as winning and as attractive as those of a handsome woman, 
forcibly reminding one of Richard's words: "Grim visaged war 
has smoothed its wrinkled front." 

Though at times possibly a little blunt and impetuous, but gen- 
erally kind and tolerant, his constantly increasing honors and fame 
never caused him to forget his earlier associations and friendships; 



Of the Army of the Tennessee. 

his love and affections for those allied by terms of service were 
as kind, cordial and tender as a mother's love. 

He had no pretensions to oratory, but as an impromptu public 
speaker he was forcible, fluent and frequently brilliant; his short, 
sharp, crispy sentences reflected the nervous energy of his char- 
acter, and reminded one of his swift attacks in battle. Outspoken 
in every presence, intense in his friendships, fixed in his convic- 
tions, and immovable in his prejudices, he was ever the enthusi- 
astic supporter of loyal men and the uncompromising enemy of 
their detractors. 

As a writer — particularly upon military subjects — General Sher- 
man stood without a peer among our military chieftains. The 
glint of his sword could always be traced in the work of his pen, 
His orders, letters and military correspondence were marvels of 
directness and precision of statement, leaving no room for doubt 
as to his meaning. His " Memoirs " will be to the citizens of this 
republic what "Caesar's Commentaries" were to the Romans. 

His daily life was an illustration of the possibilities of American 
manhood, for probably no man ever lived, who in the beginning 
was more severely criticised, and before the ending more highly 
honored. Certainly none ever died more intensely loved or more 
sincerely mourned. While no memorable words were the last 
recorded utterances of the sleeping hero, he might well have said 
as did England's dying Nelson, " Thank God I have done my 
duty." 

Millions of loyal people with bated breath looked upon that 
last final struggle, which marked an epoch in our country's his- 
tory; and seeking consolation found it only in the fact the sunset 
of his career was, if possible more glorious than the springtime of 
his military glory. He was not only honored for what he did, 
but loved for what he was; and many an eye grew moist with a tear 
of genuine sorrow when the tolling bells announced the death of 
your old commander, around whose name will ever cluster the 
most hallowed memories of the days when the destinies of our 
imperiled country hung trembling in the balance, until the weight 
of his untiring energy, military genius, and mighty personality 
were thrown upon the side of loyalty and love of country. Brave, 
generous, and noble, his name and his fame will be the pride and 
boast of America's cominsr centuries. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



Illilllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 1 iiiiii A 

007 536 954 fi M\ 




